lt was in a little ziplock bag, somehow completely dry but it was dead. i went back home and plugged it in, for 2 weeks it stayed in the charger.
“it’s broken” said everyone who saw it. but i didn’t give up on it. after those two weeks it lit up with the familiar apple logo before displaying the home screen.
the phone’s home screen was a photo of a little girl that looked to be 5-7 years old, cute as a button, playing with a dog. i was surprised when i tried to open it that it had no password. the only app visible on the home screen was the notes app.
i spent about half an hour debating on whether i should open it or not. they clearly wanted me to see whatever is inside the notes app or else they wouldn’t have hidden everything else, right?
i caved, and opened the app. it was a log of some sorts, like a diary. i began to read. i don’t know how to explain what i read or even where to talk about it so i’m gonna copy it and paste it here. i’m sorry for disrespecting the owner of this phone’s privacy. i don’t know where else i can show it so i’m gonna show it here, on reddit.
here’s what it said:
kaylee has been jumping up and down since i told her we were going to italy. i had to give her my laptop to watch youtube and work on my phone instead because she wouldn’t shut up about all the things we plan to do.
i won’t take her to any of the historical landmarks, a 6 year old wouldn’t care about those. we’re only staying for 4 days. the first day we’re going horse riding by the beach, the next day eating at 10 different restaurants and seing which is best, and in the last day i’m taking her on a boat in venice.
this is the same exact trip i took with my wife 8 years ago. the same trip i proposed to her on. i wanted to take kaylee here so she could know how it all began, exactly.
we’ve been having so much fun over the last 2 days i haven’t had any time to type in here. were about to get on the boat now.
i just told kaylee what happened on a boat just like this one, she was super exited. she couldn’t believe she was on the same trip me and her mother took to get married. i proposed to her on a boat like this.
she was jumping up and down like she always does when she’s exited. but something strange happened. the guy who’s rowing the boat turned his head and frowned at her. but there was something alarmingly wrong about his face, his expression, the way his neck was twisted.
i apologized and he continued to row. i told kaylee to try not to move a lot as the boat is not that big. she agreed and leaned on one side, watching the buildings around her. they were all kinds of colors and sizes, she waved at everyone and most of them waved back. it’s adorable.
i laid my head back a bit and somehow fell asleep, this was very strange as i’m prone to seasickness. what was stranger is where the boat was. it was no longer in a river with colorful buildings on each side, rather on a big ocean.
i was kind of thrown back by this and asked kaylee where we were and to my surprise she was also asleep. i looked up at the sky, it was nighttime. last i recall it was sunset. have i really slept for that long? why hasn’t the boat driver woken me up?
i went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, this time he let go of the oars and they fell into the now ocean and sunk. aren’t boat ores supposed to float? he looked at me with that now familiar frown, his eyes only a few inches away from mine. i fell back and he got new ores and continued rowing. i have no idea where he got them from, the boat is not big enough to carry oars of that size, and even if it was, i have not seen any spares on the boat.
when i fell back, i got a good look of the sky. it was completely blank. no moon, no clouds, no stars. you’d think that was normal due to pollution, but how is their pollution in the middle of the ocean?
kaylee woke up around here, she began to panic. i immediately hugged her and shushed her, as to not anger the driver anymore. she asked at least 20 questions which were all met with an “i don’t know.”
i’m as terrified as she is, if not more. the situation i’m in is already bad enough, but i have a 6 year old with me who i have to ensure always stays calm. we hugged and i told her in an unsure tone “we’re gonna be okay baby doll. it’s okay”
after i said that the driver flung his oar back and two giant fish landed on the boat. they smelled weird, almost like they were cooked, seasoned even. i took a good sniff before biting one. it tasted amazing. probably the first good thing that happened to us.
i ate one first and waited a bit to make sure it wasn’t poisoned before allowing kaylee to eat. i’ve been trying my hardest to act calm for her. if i panic then she panics then we all go down.
i began to sing her lullabies to calm her down. though there was a million things going on in my mind. how would i drink? how would i eat? where the hell am i? how did i sleep in a goddamn boat? why am i not getting seasick?
i was panicking inside my mind, though i wouldn’t let kaylee know about it. this is already a difficult enough situation without a panicked 6 year old
it just turned from night to day in a second, i didn’t have any time to react. again, there is no sun or clouds to be visible. the water was still a very dark blue, it feels like it goes down hundreds if not thousands of kilometers. it feels like the void from subnautica but without the leviathans, thankfully.
i don’t know how, but kaylee woke up and she wasn’t panicked. another 2 fish were pushed by the oar, this time i let kaylee eat with me. “we need water” i thought. the moment i thought that it began to rain. but we were not getting wet. it was raining but the rain wasn’t actually falling, neither on the boat nor on the water.
i decided to take a sip of the water. i have no idea why but it just seemed like something i had to do. it was fresh water. tasted very clean too. i once again waited for any side effects before letting kaylee drink.
it’s been one week of us being stranded on this boat. i think the worst thing about it is that we have an excuse to live. we have consistent food and practically infinite water. but there is absolutely nothing stopping us from losing our minds. suicide is not an option, i have a 6 year old daughter with me. though i have contemplated killing us both as a way out of here.
after 2 more weeks of this nonsense, i decided to take action. i broke off a piece of wood, sharp enough to kill if i had to, and went up to the driver who was rowing this boat for 3 weeks straight.
he looked at me, his eyes widened and his dark skin darkened. he then stood up, looking down at me, before jumping off the boat.
i heard a very very disturbing noise that i can’t quite describe with words before blood came to the surface. the blood darkened and it turned into a dark brown, the same color of his skin. this isn’t blood, i muttered. for a moment i had forgotten that i have a 6 year old with me. she wasn’t crying but the expression on her face made me want to cry.
it was fear. that’s all i can say about what was on my daughter’s face. fear.
the daily cooked and seasoned fish stopped coming in, and i can tell the water below us is draining, quickly. i don’t know what’s happening, so i’m gonna throw my phone into the water. to whoever finds this, if anyone, please go to a toy store and buy a dinosaur stuffed animal, and throw it into the ocean. it’s my daughter’s favorite animal and it would comfort her knowing that her stuffed dinosoar is coming to rescue us.
horrified by what i had just read, i did as instructed. i bought a stuffed dinosaur and threw it into the ocean. it moved away very fast, and got sunk into the ocean.
i sat down, just thinking, processing, when i remembered my brother took my niece on a boat in venice.
i rushed to text him but my messages were not sent. the last trace of him was an instagram story. it was a selfie of him and his daughter on the boat, in the backround was a dark skinned driver, with a odd twisted neck and a frown i can’t get behind.